Best Buy & Geek Squad Policies

[NCSt8Lily]

My husband and I got some Best Buy gift cards and cash for Christmas, which we put aside so that we could get a Wii.  Since December 26, we have been searching relentlessly for a Wii at a BB in our area or at BB online.  Since we live in a somewhat of an urban area, there are several BB stores within an hour drive of our house- #1492, #147, #299, and #574.  I have called all of these stores countless times to check and see if they have any Wii's.  I began calling when the stores opened on Dec. 26 (according to the times listed online).  I was able to speak to a sales associate at all of these stores except for #574, which is the closest one to our house.  Unfortunately, the stores I talked to said they didn't have any Wii's.  So, my husband and I decided we would make a trip over to store 574 to see if they had any since they weren't answering the phone.  I cannot even tell you how many times I tried calling this store that morning because I lost count.  So, I was a little irritated when we got there.  We asked 2 different associates about the wii and both said they didn't have any.  One of the guys told us that we could go online on Dec. 27 to check the sales ad for the upcoming week and if the wii was in it, then they would probably be getting some in soon.  So we went home and I continued to try calling all of these stores throughout the day on Saturday.  Again, only store 574 would not answer the phone.  I was getting very irritated and hoped that one of the other stores would come through and have a Wii, but it just didn't happen.  Also, unfortunately there were no Wii's listed in the ad when I checked on Saturday night.  So, on Sunday, my husband and I went back over to store 574 on the off chance that maybe they had gotten a delivery of Wii's.  They had not. We again talked to 2 different sales guys just to make sure.  The first guy told us the best thing to do would be to call ahead to see if they had any in.  I told him, I HAD called NUMEROUS times, but no one at their store ever answered the phone.  He gave me an excuse about them being busy with post- Christmas sales.  The second guy pretty much said the same thing about calling ahead, but at least he didn't give me a lame excuse and did apologize when I told him no one had ever answered the phone.  Anyway, we went back home and I continued calling all of these stores througout the day for the next several days, only to have store 574 still not answer the phone whenever I called.  I even tried pressing 4 to speak to a Geek Squad member and they didn't even answer.  Today is Friday, and I just arrived home after stopping by BB store 574 on my way home from work.  When I went in, I asked if they had any Wii's in stock.  I was shocked when the girl told me that had some earlier today and called back to the department to see if they still had any.  Unfortunately, they had already sold them all.  So, I asked to speak to a manager.  When the manager came, I explained to him that I had been searching for a Wii for the past week and been to the store a few times to check and was told that I should just call before coming.  I explained to him that I tried to call and no one at that store ever answered the phone.  I explained that I understood they sold the Wii's quickly once they got them in, but that I was angry that I didn't even have a chance to know that they might have them because I was told to call and when I do no one ever answers the phone.  He told me that they only have 1 PERSON who answers the phones and it just so happened that guy was standing there too.  The guy said he gets so many calls and he can't answer them all at one time.  I asked both of them, you mean to tell me that it just so happens that ALL those times I called, I just couldn't get through because it just so happened that EVERY TIME this guy was on another call?  Then the guy went on to tell me that he's not always there and the manager spoke up and said that they can only afford to hire one person to do this job.  WHAT!?  BEST BUY can only afford 1 PERSON to answer phones!?  And apparently, if you call while he's off work, then you are out of luck! Then it also occurred to me, that the phone guy just happened to be standing at the front of the store when I was there...talking to another associate in what appeared to me to be a conversation that was not related to work...so obviously, even when he is at work if he is elsewhere in the store, he's not answering the phone.  Hmm, maybe that has something to do with it.  On Tuesday night, December 30, I sent an email to Best Buy Corporate to inform them of this situation.  I recevied one of those automated replies that stated they had received my email and would respond within 3 business days.  It is now Friday, and I still have not gotten a response, but I will give them until Monday since January 1 is a Holiday for many businesses (although the BB stores were still open that day, corporate may not have been).  I am so disappointed in this Best Buy store #574.  My husband and I have shopped there for years and bought many things from this store.  I understand if they don't have a Wii, but I don't understand why they can't just pick up the phone to tell me that so I don't have to make unecessary trips over there.  My husband just thinks they don't care if they get our business or not.          

[rutgers456]

hey ncst8lilly,

All bestbuys have a sales operator to answer calls. The sales operator team is usally consited of about 3 or 4 people depending on the size of the store. Often the sales operator does not come in till about an hour after the store opens. I understand that this is not an excuse. There are unexperienced sales operators that do not understand how to operate a system with heavy holiday volume. (they should put customers on hold not let it ring)

All i can say is that especially after christmas wii shipments are going to be extremley hard to find. The best time to get the wii is on sunday mornings if it is listed in the ad. If the wii is listed in the add a store wii have atleast the limited listed. i suggest waiting outside about a hour before to get one.

[NCSt8Lily]

Thanks for the advice.  The manager at this store actually told me that they only have this 1 guy who takes their calls at this store.  I think that is ABSURD!

[justathought]

Or you can go to wiialerts.com. They monitor most of the places that get wii shipments and you can have them email you or send a cell phone text message when someone gets a shipment in. The other thing to do would be to visit some of the smaller chains like G***stop and ask them when they usually get their shipments in.

[u_hsen]

the chance of getting a wii from best buy usually it's a lot bigger than store liks g@mestop  they usually only have what 10 in at a time where as best buy sometimes may get up to 80-100 wiis in.

[u_hsen]

u can also call other stores and ask them to check for that particular store (574) all best buy in the area can check each other store what they have in store or not.

[NCSt8Lily]

thanks for telling me that u_hsen!  i hadn't really thought about asking one of the other stores because one of the guys i had asked at 574 if they could tell me if the other stores had any told me that they didn't know and the other stores wouldn't tell them if they did because they would want to sell it themselves.  i am so frustrated with those people!  i just called 574 again and got no answer...AGAIN!  i called the other 3 stores and someone answered and told politely told me they did not have any in stock.  on the 3rd store, i asked if they could tell me if this 574 store had any and she immediately said "hang on a sec while i check for you" and she checked, but they didn't have any.  at least now i know i can do that since 574 will probably NEVER pick up! 

[u_hsen]

yah some times when store gets too busy, especially during the holiday season, there's no one there to man the telephone. in my store we have at most 6 people in the computer department. when it gets too busy or too loud, we won't be able to answer the phone, sometimes i can't even hear the phone due to the ambient noise in the store. any calls transfer to our department in my store, we never pick up the phone.

[Elizabeth-BBY Community Supervisor]

Dear NCSt8Lily,

Thanks for posting your concern on our Best Buy® Forum.  Your issue has been assigned to one of our Community Connectors for further review and response, and you should be hearing something within a maximum of 3-5 business days.  Please note that it may be sooner depending on the complexity of your issue and the current volume of posts.  Thanks for your continued patience as we work to assist all of the customers who have reached out to us on this forum.

~Elizabeth

Community Supervisor

Best Buy® Corporate

[preciousness]

I don't think it is just that store - I have been having the same problem with the store in Murray, Utah- I have let the phone ring for 10 minutes before someone picks up - there is no answering service or bypass system to go to the department you want.  Once someone does pick up and transfer the call to the appropriate department, it just rings and rings again, only after 3 minutes if no one picks up, it just disconnects, and you have to start the entire process all over again!  What a PAIN!